What happened to due process and the Rule of Law? U-GO Brands directors have been denied any due process and adherence to the Rule of Law in regards to their dealings with the BC Securities Commission. We have been told repeatedly by public officials and lawyers that theres not much they can do since its a "Securities" issue. Our problem with that is that this is simply a blind excuse to let the BC Securities Commission act in an arbitrary and malicious manner when prosecuting the U-GO Brands directors. Are the financial markets now deemed free from the rule of law??
The BC Securities Commission has the power to seize assets and prosecute people under Criminal Law as well as under Civil Law through its Tribunal Process.
If the BC Securities Commission is going to have these types of powers, the power to destroy some ones life they had better ensure due process and the rule of law are key in every investigation and judgement rendered or they themselves will be legally compromised and in no position to make a credible ruling.
Our case is exactly such a case. This is not simply a question of a Securities infraction, this is a matter of civil rights.
We have the right to be treated as innocent until proven guilty, Securities market or not.
The BCSC did not extend us that right when it published defamatory material it knew to be false when printed.
The following exert is from our lawyer and a conversation with investigator Lindsey Donders in early 2014 in which Lindsey Donders mentions that the BCSC was aware that Lorne Cire and Peter Harris did not take the money in question yet continued to try to prosecute them for it.
To this day we still have a disgorgement fee facing us of $650K, disgorgement fees by legal definition are only applicable in cases of fraud where ill gotten gains were retained.
In our case the BCSC could prove neither because we are as innocent as we were the day we went to them for help.
Notice this is in April 2014, why did the prosecution continue to try and pin a crime on Lorne Cire and Peter Harris when they knew them to be innocent?
In another flagrant contravention of Law the BCSC held two hearings, one on October the 8th and the other on Oct 31st 2014. It has withheld the transcripts from both hearings insisting they do not exist even though we all had to say our name for the stenographer who was there and recorded the entire process. The following is a direct quote from Ms Mitchell Banks where she states there is no record of the Oct 8th 2014 hearing when we asked for the transcript.
The thing here is even if she were telling the truth and we all imagined the stenographer present the BC Securities Commission would still be in contravention of Supreme Court Law which demands they record such hearings even if they are preliminary.
How can the BC Securities Commission be trusted to act in a fair and unbiased manner when making any legal decisions if this type of behavior is commonplace?
These are just a couple examples of the BC Securities Commission and its complete disregard for the rule of law and justice.
We simply do not trust the BC Securities Commission as they have been nothing but deceptive, vindictive, and malicious during the entire prosecution. Why all the lies? What does the BCSC have to hide?
Christopher Burke
Peter Harris
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